pretazzo

polettazzo, how can you say that the plot doesn't matter in Citizen Kane? It's the story of American capitalism! I mean: this film is important not only for its stylistic innovations (more than the wide-angle shots or the play of shadows or the depth of field, all things that have been thoroughly explored by the European avant-gardists of the 1920s, it's the spatio-temporal decomposition that makes the difference), but also for the tale it tells, an exemplary story that reveals the American society and the power of mass media, and (on a philosophical/conceptual level) of relativism and the consequent impossibility of grasping reality in a single interpretation… well… anyway, absolute masterpiece.

got this one back too...very tasty...that guy who plays the guitar is awesome...

I finally landed on slsk and for a couple of days I’ve been soaking up this fantastic album! Damn, they had the same synthesizer as Cherub by the Butthole Surfers (still them!!!) Really eclectic, everything from industrial to Cohen and everything in between...

masterpiece, I prefer it to Nosferatu, but not to Metropolis (just to stay within the expressionist realm)... in fact, the theme of the conflict between freedom and authority lends itself to interpretations both psychological and sociological. An amazing film!

Exactly Moustache, I meant exactly that... so my position practically equates to that of Phidias... @(!): of course we must reflect on the atrocities of History, that goes without saying, however I believe that classic AMERICAN cinema OF VALUE (like that of Ford, for example) should not only be admired for its aesthetic qualities but also (to some extent) for its content, as certain films from that era are much less racist, imperialist, and war-mongering than the dominant ideology in the States of those times would have one think: many films by Ford and Hawks testify to this (two examples among many: "Red River" by Hawks and "The Searchers" by Ford are films where, beneath the edification of the American way of life, a veiled but intelligent critique of every discriminatory attitude shines through, whether directed against Native Americans or women... then at certain moments these positions are explicitly reaffirmed, with a significant line by John Wayne which I don't recall exactly, but was more or less along the lines of: "Old men should do everything to avoid wars"). You see, then during the Vietnam era, John Wayne supported the war ("Green Berets"), but the fact is that in that Ford film, he played the sage... What does this mean? That the man John Wayne should be "absolved"? Certainly not! However, the fact remains that in "The Searchers" he conveyed a fundamentally anti-militarist message... the power of cinema! The reality is that many critics in the past (especially in the 60s and 70s) hated John Ford A PRIORI; they didn't give a damn about cinema, for them John Wayne meant "Green Berets", nothing more... and so they went on to trash an entire career of great films (including those with Ford and Hawks), until a French critic (I can't remember if it was Bazin or Rivette or someone else) finally admitted: "We were wrong about Wayne: he was a great actor!" Better late than never, right... and so began the reevaluation of classic western cinema, and for the first time, the glimmers of tolerance and progressivism began to be discerned here and there, which the militant criticism had always overlooked due to its mental rigidity... P.S. This was just a digression to once again reaffirm my conception of Art (and of cinema) and its relationship with reality and "politics," a crucial relationship, but certainly not servile or instrumental (as many, among the "obtuse" critics Phidias spoke of, unfortunately intend). I don't intend to stir up trouble: I have nothing against any of you. I have no reason to do so. Bye!

ghemi, beware if you get bjorky banned! :-)) Nice catch, I wasn't aware of this one at all (except Battle of Evermore, of course!)... I've heard of Fairport Convention, though... I don't think British folk is my cup of tea, but you never know!

Ok deathinaugust, I got it... apparently, I misinterpreted your previous comment because I had the feeling that Scorsese's film did not appeal to you just because of the Christian ending... you know, a lot of people (and you don’t fit into this, don’t worry ;-D) treat films as if they were political rallies: they expect to see in the movie what they would like to hear at their party's rally... many people don’t understand that art and politics are at opposite ends (even though Art often deals with politics)... the artistic debate should go beyond the face-to-face that we see during election campaigns or in television programs... cinema is made to unite (but not hypocritically and naively in the name of universally shared principles!): unite in the sense that, thanks to cinema, a politically aligned viewer can find themselves in truly surprising situations (there's a friend of mine from Como, anti-communist to the core, whose favorite film, believe it or not!, is Bertolucci's "NOVECENTO"!!! :-D ..... conversely, there’s a lot of leftist criticism, from Fofi to Morandini, that adores John Ford: these are the things that make me love cinema). Bye!

I don't give a damn about the average (maybe Moustache might be interested, but I don't think so)... the problem is another: Christ, when watching films, one must be willing to accept perspectives different from their own sensibilities... you don't go to the cinema to gain certainties... the purpose of cinema is to bombard the viewer with doubts, to intrigue them, to disorient them, to make them see things from new points of view, to make them experience an "intellectual experience" they otherwise wouldn't have lived... it's too convenient to say that a film sucks just because it expresses an idea different from your own... you need to see the "way" in which this idea is expressed, the journey behind it... we are the ones who need to engage with cinema, not the other way around... dear deathinaugust, I'm not targeting you in particular, but the attitude (which is quite widespread today) of molding the meanings of a film based on one’s own beliefs.

and on the vote especially, very indicative

let's cast a merciless veil over deathinaugust's comment